Canoeing the Neponset River offers a respite from the fast-paced life

As you meander and glide, there are frequent signs of the world around you moving at the frenetic speed of daily life -- in cars that whiz up I-95, in the Acela train hurtling at 130 miles per hour toward Boston and in single-propeller airplanes zipping off the runway at Norwood Memorial Airport.

Speed is often the primary consideration when traveling somewhere, reckoned in minutes and miles. But when you paddle a canoe down the Neponset River from Canton through Dedham and into Milton, a curious and lovely muddling of the math occurs.

As you meander and glide, there are frequent signs of the world around you moving at the frenetic speed of daily life – in cars that whiz up I-95, in the Acela train hurtling at 130 mph toward Boston and in single-propeller airplanes zipping off the runway at Norwood Memorial Airport.

You’d think the net effect of all these contraptions racing by would interfere with relaxation, but it actually drives home a reality: You are in a canoe on this river with just your shoulders, arms and a paddle as your engine.

Frequent glimpses and sounds of modern transportation only make you more grateful that you are, for a moment, spared from that world and given this chance to meld with the river, where red-tailed hawks, great blue herons and goldfinches enjoy their wetland.

If you put in a canoe in Canton, take a break at Signal Hill Reservation and continue on to Paul’s Bridge in Milton, it could take a few hours to cover, just shy of 8 miles. Fallen trees will slow you down, forcing you to portage.

Some paddlers, like David Hodgdon, who leads tours on the river, will also pause to pick up trash and encourage others to do the same.

Hodgdon also points out another contrast that’s less apparent on this river. While the Neponset’s glassy surface gorgeously reflects the cotton ball clouds, blue sky and lush foliage, it also holds a lot of pollution on its bottom.

“Industries used to dump everything right out the door: lead, oil and other heavy metals,” said Hodgdon, as he used the tip of his paddle to collect trash near the eastern riverbank in Dedham. “The soils filled with PCBs and God knows what else.”

That doesn’t keep Hodgdon from seeking out the beauty of the Neponset, keeping his eyes peeled for painted turtles and eagerly anticipating August when the wild grapes ripening on the banks make for an aromatic paddle downriver.